Referring to FIGS. 1-8, one commonly employed process currently utilized to form sheet metal casket shells is as follows: Two side panels 10, 10 are blanked from a coil 12 of sheet steel (or other suitable sheet metal), and two end panels 14, 14 are blanked from the coil 12. Next, both side panels 10, 10 and both end panels 14, 14 are stamped to form the desired profile of the shell side walls 16, 16 and end walls 18, 18. Next, the four walls 16, 16, 18, 18 are loaded onto a weld fixture and welded together by welders 20, and finally the four welds are ground smooth with grinders 22. At some point along the way a bottom wall or panel (not shown) is welded to the side walls 16, 16 and the end walls 18, 18.
This current process of forming sheet metal casket shells includes a number of disadvantages. Each panel requires at least one blanking operation along with one or two stamping operations. The sheets must be loaded into a first press to be blanked, and then moved to a second press to be stamped. The panels are then moved to a new location where they are loaded onto a fixture that holds the panels in the correct assembled orientation. Each corner is then welded either manually or robotically. The corners contain intricate profiles which add complexity to the welding operation. The welded shell is then moved to a new location where each weld is manually rough ground. Because of the intricate profiles the grinding must be done at a slower pace to insure that only unwanted weld is removed. The shell is then placed on line where the corners are eventually manually finish sanded. All of these operations are labor intensive, and because of the repeated handling of the parts, the parts are susceptible to dents and dings. The welding operations require energy for the welder and consume welding wire. The grinding and sanding operations require energy, consume numerous sanding discs, and produce dust and debris.
It is desirable to improve upon this current method of forming sheet metal casket shells.